Visors are included as part of original equipment furnished with a motor vehicle to be disposed for extension across the windshield area of a motor vehicle in order to shield the driver and other occupants of a vehicle from the glare of the sun or alternative sources of light. The standard sunvisor does not provide sufficient protection from the sun's rays or other sources of light.
Numerous approaches have been taken to alleviate the problem. For example, Ward U.S. Pat. No. 2,385,557 discloses a light visor having two recesses or pockets enabling two panels to be withdrawn. Each panel may be individually withdrawn until a stop or trunnion engages shoulders in each of the respective recesses or pockets. In this construction, it is necessary to independently extend each panel manually to the desired position.
In Timperio U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,876 discloses a plurality of glare shields pivotally connected to the original visor by means of clips. The glare shields are then capable of being pivoted relative to the visor between active positions and inactive positions. Timperio's device requires modification of the original visor to attach each of the glare shields. In addition, it may be necessary based on prior usage, to reposition as many as two glare shields in order to position the desired glare shield according to the drivers needs.
Kuss U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,589 discloses a auxiliary visor that attaches to the vehicle's standard visor by means of a magnetized plate also affixed to the standard visor. A fastener such a bull clip is attached to a single magnet in turn attached to the auxiliary visor. The bull clip requires sufficient spring strength to rigidly hold the auxiliary visor in a position below the vehicle's standard visor in the operating position. The requirement of attaching a metallic plate to the visor may result in damage to the original equipment provided with the vehicle. Furthermore, only a single transparent filter is provided as extra glare protection.
Lutz U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,275 discloses a housing having auxiliary visors connected at two locations to the visor originally mounted on the motor vehicle. The auxiliary visors have end limiting stops which prevent complete withdrawal preventing the auxiliary visors from falling out of the housing. The housing is provided with a slot to assist in catching hold of the auxiliary visor to draw it out of the housing into the extended position. The bottom visor is withdrawable through a slot arranged in the front side of the housing causing the bending of the auxiliary visor as it passes through the slot resulting in an automatic breaking of the auxiliary visor upon drawing out. Such a construction requires a modification of the original visor in order to properly mount the housing containing the auxiliary visors. Furthermore, the mounting of the additional housing increases the width of the visor thereby interfering with the positioning of the visor in the stored position.
Matheopoulous U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,829 discloses an adjustable bi-directional vehicle visor pivotally mounted to the vehicle adjacent the windshield allowing horizontal rotation between a stored position and an operating position. The device has an opaque first visor and second transparent tinted visor which overlays the first visor in the stored position and is selectively pivotable about the first visor when in an operating position to permit shielding both at the front and side simultaneously. The second visor may also be positioned in parallel alignment below the first visor. In this construction, the second visor, although able to prevent glare in one of two positions, is incapable of protecting the occupant from glare in more than one direction at any given time.
Gavagan U.S. Pat. No(s). 4,728,142 and 4,828,313 disclose a visor assembly having one or more retractable glare screens integrated with the visor so as to be extended and retracted from the visor as required. The glare screens are guided for retracting movement by slot followers traveling in elongated guide slots formed by the visor center board member. The Gavagan device requires the occupant of the vehicle to individually pull each tab to the desired length to insure proper protection from the glare.
Hemmke, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,111 discloses a visor mounting bracket which in one embodiment supports at least one visor panel for spring-actuated, snap-up storage against a vehicle roof. The preferred embodiment has the mounting bracket adjustably support a first visor movable between a raised stored position and a lowered use position. A second panel slidably mounted to the first panel by interlocking arm means permits the second panel to be extended from either side of the first panel. In this construction, although possible to shield the occupant from glare on two sides, it is only possible to move the second visor slidably along a limited distance to attempt to shield glare occurring from the side. Furthermore, the second visor does not extend in parallel alignment below the first visor to provide additional glare protection below the standard sized visor.
Karford U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,176 discloses a visor extension unit which is adapted for releasable attachment to a conventional visor of a motor vehicle. The device includes a support frame having opposed surfaces and means for attaching one the surfaces to the body of the visor. A pair of guide passages at opposite ends of the unit enable the visor panel to be manually moved in a horizontal direction extending either from the left side or the right side based on the location of the sun. An additional extension panel is movable through a downwardly open end guide slot for downward vertical extension of the shield beyond the lower edge of the visor. In this construction, it is necessary to modify the original visor in order to attach this visor extension unit. Furthermore, at any given time, it is only possible to protect either the left or right side from glare.
Lee U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,161 discloses an automobile visor having a vertical series of pivotally connected shield plates which are suspended from a horizontal hanging portion of a hanging rod rotatably mounted on a roof panel. The shield plates are in horizontal alignment when unfolded, each containing a side slot having a side plate horizontally extendable therefrom. In this construction, it is necessary to unfold at least one plate and then extend the insert horizontally to protect against glare. Furthermore, it is not possible to protect against side glare with this configuration.
Dykstra, et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,982 discloses a multiplex visor including a plurality of nested panels movable with respect to one another. One embodiment shows a duplex visor longitudinally slit along a center curvilinear plane extending between the front and rear of the visor to provide a single visor having independently movable halves or panels for providing front and side window sun blocking protection. An embodiment showing a triplex visor includes three separate movable nested panels having a first panel and second panel similar to the first embodiment and third panel including a vanity mirror. In either configuration, the visor does not extend downwardly, nor does it extend horizontally along the right side to provide additional protection from glare.
Pusic, et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,062 discloses an electrically driven visor. Flowerday U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,499 discloses a visor with a pivotally concealed vanity mirror. Marcus, et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,819 discloses a vehicle visor lighting apparatus. These three patents were considered and not deemed applicable to the present application.
The present invention incorporates many of the known benefits of an extendable visor while improving the ease of use for the occupant of the vehicle.